Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

Effective privacy protection in social networks

Date:

June 11, 2013

Source:

Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft

Summary:

Researchers are working on new methods to help them gain a better understanding of the usage habits of participants in social networks. The results will be incorporated in the development of userfriendly tools for privacy protection.

Researchers are working on new methods to help them gain a better understanding of the usage habits of participants in social networks. The results will be incorporated in the development of user-friendly tools for privacy protection.

Related Articles

In principle, social networks such as Facebook are a good things: users can communicate with other people around the globe, contacting their closest friends in all places and at all times to share experiences with them in real time. Yet many users have problems publishing posts and photos in a way that will protect them from the undesirable side effects to their online identities. To support users' desire for "interactional privacy" -- protection of the user's private sphere in online dealings with other people -- suggested improvements have already been made for networks such as Facebook. In a practical setting, however, these improved means are either too rigid to do justice to users' multifaceted habits, or they are very complicated to manage because they try to solve a host of different problems all at the same time.

"If we want to develop truly user-friendly tools, we have to understand users better," according to Andreas Poller of the Fraunhofer Institute for Secure Information Technology SIT in Darmstadt. Together with researchers at Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main, for five years, now, he has been working on a project, "Software Design for Interactional Privacy within Online Social Networks," that will create new methods of collecting and evaluating data on usage habits in online social networks (http://dipo.sit.fraunhofer.de/). In contrast to previous studies, researchers not only want to identify the weak spots in privacy management but also want their work to support the design of more effective privacy tools.

Ingenious study design

Initially, researchers focused their attention exclusively on qualitative interviews. Since then, they have begun combining their surveys with analytical software developed at SIT to document Facebook activities by study participants (http://code.google.com/p/rose-browser-extension/). "To make sure that this tool does not influence user behavior -- as would be the case, for instance, if a study participant felt he or she was being monitored by the software -- we have intentionally designed it to give study subjects full control over their data," Poller explains. The software runs on the user's computer, and not on an external server. Content is not recorded -- only the technical functions used. A special commentary function provided by the software inserts itself into the Facebook user interface to give users an opportunity to comment directly, "on site," on their usage behavior and experiences. Data are not automatically transmitted; instead study participants must forward them to the researchers. In a form of protocol, they can first review the documentation and modify it wherever they wish.

"Thanks to the close dovetailing of the two research methods, we can interpret technical facts from the user's perspective," Poller points out. While qualitative interviews often reveal interesting aspects and statements of the problem, they cannot be implemented on a one-to-one basis in specific software design. "You also have to know what problems are specifically a result of the technology involved," Poller says. Designs developed purely on the basis of technological expertise, on the other hand, lack any reference to users' habits. A knowledge deficit about the ways in which people and technology interact can also lead to false conclusions -- as in the case of the "privacy paradox" in which users indicate that they attach great importance to their privacy but have selected very open settings for their Facebook account. "At first glance, this looks like a contradiction. In fact, though, it may well be that the user has only provided spare information in his or her profile and doesn't post anything and thus needs no restrictive protective settings at all," Poller explains.

With their work, the researchers want to help improve the design process of software for social networks. The results of the study are regularly presented to the community of researchers, and the analytical tool is available as open source software. In March of last year, the project team was presented with the coveted Google Faculty Research Award for their efforts on behalf of improved privacy protection.

More From ScienceDaily

More Science & Society News

Featured Research

Mar. 31, 2015  A criminologist finds that solitary confinement does not deter inmates from committing further violence in prison. The prisoners in the study who received solitary confinement were no more -- or less ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  Increasing state alcohol taxes could prevent thousands of deaths a year from car crashes, say researchers, who found alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes decreased after taxes on beer, wine and ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  Human language likely developed quite rapidly into a sophisticated system, a linguist contends. Instead of mumbles and grunts, people deployed syntax and structures resembling the ones we use today, ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  Differences in the way children and adults perceive the world extend to their sense of safety in their social and physical environments and this in turn can impact their health, say researchers. ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  The volcanologist Stephen Self, an expert on super-eruptions, was the first modern-day scientist to visit Tambora in Indonesia, the site of the largest volcanic eruption in 1,000 years. On the 200th ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  Researchers have detected a human fingerprint deep in the Borneo rainforest in Southeast Asia. Cold winds blowing from the north carry industrial pollutants from East Asia to the equator, with ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  Landfills can make a profit from all their rotting waste and a new patent explains exactly how to make the most out of the stinky garbage sites. Decomposing trash produces methane, a landfill gas ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015  As the United States faces transplant waiting lists that continue to grow longer over time, there is increasing debate about the proper way to incentivize living donations. Due to organ shortages, ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015  The moon does not influence the timing of human births or hospital admissions, a new study finds, confirming what astronomers have known for decades. The study illustrates how intelligent people ... full story

Mar. 30, 2015  New Canadian guidelines to help prevent and manage obesity in children and youth recommend regular growth monitoring at routine health care visits as well as a focus on family lifestyles and health ... full story

Soda, Salt and Sugar: The Next Generation of Taxes

Washington Post (Mar. 30, 2015)  Denisa Livingston, a health advocate for the Dinι Community Advocacy Alliance, and the Post&apos;s Abby Phillip discuss efforts around the country to make unhealthy food choices hurt your wallet as much as your waistline.
Video provided by Washington Post

Related Stories

Oct. 25, 2014  In the digital age in which we live, monitoring, security breaches and hacks of sensitive data are all too common. It has been argued that privacy has no place in this big data environment and ... full story

May 12, 2014  Democratic movements can flourish online, but just as easily get censored. A group of researchers is developing solutions to the vulnerabilities and privacy problems with using big social media ... full story

May 2, 2014  Many privacy discussions follow a similar pattern, and involve the same kinds of arguments. It’s commonplace to hear that privacy is dead, people -- especially kids -- don’t care about privacy, ... full story

Nov. 26, 2013  Creating a computer program to find relationships in networks, such as Google Plus and Facebook, may help users more easily set up and maintain privacy settings, according to ... full story

May 9, 2012  The Internet and social media have opened up new vistas for people to share preferences in films, books and music. Services such as Spotify and the Washington Post Social Reader already integrate ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.